[Matrixbeast]

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Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

In response to the first sentence: of course. That's the whole reason he was given a deck in the first place.

But that a good character doesn't make.

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Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

Not only that but outside of killing he served as a moral test for Ryuki and Knight, as practically every other character in the series does. Because Ren lacks the conviction to kill, you could almost say he gathers inspiration from Ouja. He makes note of this saying that perhaps he needs to become like Asakura in order to fulfill his wish. Hell, towards the end of the series Shinji starts taking inspiration from Asakura as well. Not only that but Asakura serves as a point to Shinji that even the lowest form of human being is worth keeping alive, as shown In the story arc where Asakura 'saves' the girl (and the series leaves it ambiguous as to whether Asakura is really as heartless as he's portrayed to be at this point). After all that's what the ideal villain IS: somebody that strengthens the hero's own beliefs.

I don't agree. The ideal villain is a character the hero overcomes. By your definition, Kitaoka was the ideal villain, despite being an antihero. Kitaoka was the one who helped reinforce the Shinji and Ren's ideals, I felt.

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Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

To say Ouja was just thrown in whenever a Rider needed to be killed off is just false. He was literally the standard, and at the same time, the example of what a Rider should and shouldn't be.

How so? It always felt Asakura was less a character and more of a dog on a chain for the writers to let loose. I never saw a form of complexity in his character because every time it seemed he was growing as a character, he'd just laugh in Shinji or Ren's face and spew on about how it was a ruse for his next kill.